2023 Offseason Primer: RBs

[MAJBobby]

OK here we are time for the one position group that so many love, I don’t value nearly as much as some, so I want to warn everyone, my writeup will likely be a bit biased here against the group as a whole, Now that that disclaimer is done time to move on to the RBs. 

 

The standard disclaimer:  I use SPOTRAC (primarily) sometimes will use OverTheCap as well for the salary and contract information.  I will also use profootball reference (primary) for stats.  Also this isn’t meant to be a complete wrap-up of the past season but more so a look at in the future, obviously I will look back at times to talk about how I see the future.

 

So here we go …

 

Financials:

Contracted players: 50 (SPOTRAC shows 52 but that includes Phillips Void and Saffold Void) with a cap hit of $241.768M

Cap Space (top 51):  -20,517,462M (Cap Announced causing this adjustment)

 

RB/FB – 3 players on contact 3.59% of CAP, 19th highest in the NFL.

 

RFA

None

 

UFA

Devin Singletary – 26 years old, Cap hit in 2022 – 975K, projected market value 5.5M AAV  – Gonna start of here by saying this is interesting on his projected market value at 5.5M, that number almost could be completely offset by the release of Nyheim Hines, if there is another Return man identified on the roster, because Hines really offered nothing to the offense since the trade and I would rather have Offensive production over ST players (this is below with Jones as well).  Now let’s investigate the numbers for Devin.  He was roughly right on his running attempt number of 177 (that is roughly where he has been all 4 years in buffalo).  Right at his yards as well with 819 (had 870 last year).  5 TDs, 43 runs resulting in 1st.  4.6 yards per carry.  (This is right where he was last year too).  Receiving side 52 targets (highest in career, two years at 50), 38 catches 280 yards, 7.4 yards per catch, 1 TD Catch rate at 7.1%.  Some fancy numbers 3.1 yards before contact (this one caught be by surprise a bit and was the highest in his career).  Not nearly as many broken tackles (9) as in the past and went 19.7 attempts per broken tackle (worst in his career).  Had 6 drops highest in his career but was a 91.8 QB rating when targeted.  All these numbers scream productive back here. I would not be opposed to bringing him back, however I want to make sure other priorities are allocated against first.  However, a 5.5M AAV contract could likely be structured in a way to account for 1.5M against the 2023 cap (Jones Cap hit), and then Hines falls off in 2024 before this contract gets up in the 5-6M Cap hit range.  

 

Taiwan Jones – 35 Years old, Cap hit in 2022 – 1.272M, Time to move on from a ST only player. 

 

On Contract

 

James Cook age 24, 0.58% of cap, 1.325M cap hit (No Savings) –  He is exactly why I am moving on from Singletary IMO.  Anyway here are his numbers.  89 attempts 507 yards, 2 TDs, 25 runs resulting in a 1st down and a 5.7 yards per carry.  Had 21 receptions on 32 targets for 180 yards and a 8.6 yards per reception and a TD with 65.6% catch rate.  Some fancy numbers 3.7 yards before contact, 3 broken tackles and 29.7 attempts between broken tackles (numbers suggest not as hard to bring down as Motor).  Had 3 drops and a 77.6 QB rating when targeted.  In my honest opinion the numbers back up what my eyes were telling me Cook is RB1 going forward. 

 

Nyheim Hines age 26, 2.11% of cap, 4.79M cap hit (4.78M in savings) – This to me looks like the deal I would have wanted for Singletary if resigned, So IMO he is the Singletary extension.  I can handle that for a couple reasons.  1.  He is on Contract for 2023 and 2024 with no guaranteed money so no problem moving on from him at any point.  4.7M cap this year 5.4M cap next year.  Brings the return capability (something that Motor doesn’t), then if you look at him in the roll Cook played this year with about 110 touches he did really well with the Cols, with a 4.9 ypc and 7.7 yards per catch.  I think that tells me we have our two RBs here, fill RB3 and RB4 late in the draft, UDFA or post draft value RB signing.   

 

Reggie Gilliam, age 26, 0.90% against cap, 2.023M cap hit (1.361 savings) – here is hard, to me I say move one save the 1.36M, but I know there is value here outside the just about zero production in the stats.  But only logged about 17% of Offensive Snaps and 78% snaps on ST.  Because of the Big ST contributions from him I probably would keep him on the roster (taking essentially the Taiwan Jones cap hit.  But I could see this as cut prospect if can find a Rookie to do what he does.  End of the day if Gilliam is moved off the Bills Roster it will be after camp IMO. 

 

Notable UFAs – Ok I will list some here, I personally would not sign anyone, but I will make a list of who I think can fit the offense anyway.   

 

RB

Saquon Barkley, 26 – This is probably the top RB on the market.  Going to likely cost around 13-15M AAV.  I could get talked into this because he is good in the passing game as well.  So I do think this would be like a McCaffery type RB (that the Bills have flirted with).    

 

Kareem Hunt 27 years old.  This is a back that would slide right into the role that is offered, he has played it most of his career.  Probably in the 5-9M AAV range.

 

Josh Jacobs, 25 years old – Here is another back that is both good in the running game and pretty darn good in the passing game as well, I could see him getting mor than Barkley to be honest.  But Probably in the 11-16M AAV range.

 

Samaje Perine – 27 years old – This would be the ONE back I would sign in UFA early.  Likely around a 2-4M AAV contract, 5-11 240 (BIG POWERFUL BACK) this SHOULD allow us to fix the short yardage without putting more hits on Josh. 

 

RB

1st round

Jahmyr Gibbs, 5-11 200, Bama – I have him ranked as the best RB in the class. 

Bijan Robinson, 6’0, 220, Texas

 

2nd Round

Devon Achane, 5’9” 185, Texas A&M

Zach Charbonnet, 6’1” 220, UCLA

Zach Evans, 6’0” 215, Ole Miss

DeWayne McBride, 5’11’”, 215 UAB

 

What I would do:

 

     I would Let all Motor and Jones walk.  Motor has been supplanted by Cook and Jones is nothing that I cannot find with a late round or UDFA Rookie.

 

I then go into UFA and Sign Perine from Bengals, get that short yardage back the team has used Allen for, now I no longer need to keep putting that punishment on him as I have a back that can routinely pick up those 3 to 4 tough yards in short yardage.  That is about a 1.5M hit in 2023.

 

RBs before draft.

 

RB1 – Cook

RB2 – Perine

RB3/Returner - Hines

 

Draft Unless you get Gibbs or Robinson to fall to you in the draft wait until 6th or later and address it.  Me personally I get a couple UDFAs (we have had good luck in UDFA RBs) and call it a day in this position group.

 

Past Writeups Links:

Cap Tickets (30 Jan)

State of the Franchise (23 Jan)

Offensive Line (23 Jan)

WRs/TEs (26 Jan)

 

Final one on Offense will be QB - hint, dont expect anything earth shattering there, then on to defense.  Any specific group anyone want me to stat with on Defense?

Edited January 30, 2023 by MAJBobby

[TheBrownBear]

You pretty much nailed it.  I like Devin, but the value just isn't there at this point.  You have to let him walk.  I'd cut Hines too and let him test the open market.

 

Roll with Cook and find a guy like Perrine in FA.  Then draft another late rounder or UDFA.  And in a pinch, I'm sure we could find another Duke Johnson type to hang on the PS in the "break glass" role.

[DJB]

Yeah can’t get on board with anyone above Robinson as #1 RB in this class 

[MrEpsYtown]

Yep I love Perine. Bowling ball of a back, he can catch the ball and he is really excellent in pass pro. I like that piece added to the RB room and he would work well with Cook. 

[LABILLBACKER]

I'm walking away from Singletary, Jones and Gilliam. Gilliam serves zero purpose on offense other than blocking. If you get better olineman you don't need a FB.  I'm done paying any of my ST players more than league minimum.  Devin is just not remarkable.  Let Hines be backup for a season to Cook and acquire a couple udfa rbs later. I think Perine stays in Cincy and they let Mixon go.  No more RB's in the first 3 rounds.

[Airseven]

Singletary and Johnson are gone. Jones will slither back during camp. Cook, Hines, and Gilliam return. I much prefer a mid-tier FA signing over using a draft pick to add to the position (Montgomery, Harris, Perine, etc.).

[MAJBobby]

4 minutes ago, DJB said:

Yeah can’t get on board with anyone above Robinson as #1 RB in this class 

Gibbs is better out of the backfield in my eyes, that is why I have him over Robinson in my grading.

1 minute ago, LABILLBACKER said:

I'm walking away from Singletary, Jones and Gilliam. Gilliam serves zero purpose on offense other than blocking. If you get better olineman you don't need a FB.  I'm done paying any of my ST players more than league minimum.  Devin is just not remarkable.  Let Hines be backup for a season to Cook and acquire a couple udfa rbs later. I think Perine stays in Cincy and they let Mixon go.  No more RB's in the first 3 rounds.

I could see them trying to Flip Mixon and Perine.  However they also still Need to sign Bates, Bell (both starting Safeties), Apple, Hurst, Flowers, and Pratt.  We all know Paul Brown will only spend cash to the cap here.  I really could see them letting Perine walk.  But if not that is the type of back I want in UFA.   

[ngbills]

I would cut Hines and not sign Signletary. 

 

Then either go all in with a Barkley or Jacobs guy. Or you go $2M or so for a Perine or Mostert type to pair with Cook. Draft a RB late. Dont see the point spending an extra few million. 

Edited January 30, 2023 by ngbills

[Bruffalo]

Let's not invest anything in RB until the OC proves he remembers the running game exists.  This can include screens too. 

[PayDaBill$]

Better work on Oline and being able to get to the QB regularly. Bolstering skill positions isn’t gonna help until the above is solved.

[MAJBobby]

3 minutes ago, ngbills said:

I would cut Hines and not sign Signletary. 

 

Then either go all in with a Barkley or Jacobs guy. Or you go $2M or so for a Perine or Mostert type to pair with Cook. Draft a RB late. Dont see the point spending an extra few million. 

Gonna take 4-5 to camp.  I guess could move on Hines at anytime with no guaranteed money and no triggers.  I would not want to go into Draft with only Cook in the room is all.  

1 minute ago, PayDaBill$ said:

Better work on Oline and being able to get to the QB regularly. Bolstering skill positions isn’t gonna help until the above is solved.

Addressed that in the OL primer.

[DJB]

19 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

Gibbs is better out of the backfield in my eyes, that is why I have him over Robinson in my grading.

I could see them trying to Flip Mixon and Perine.  However they also still Need to sign Bates, Bell (both starting Safeties), Apple, Hurst, Flowers, and Pratt.  We all know Paul Brown will only spend cash to the cap here.  I really could see them letting Perine walk.  But if not that is the type of back I want in UFA.   

We have a passing back in Cook.

We need a true 3 down RB which Bijan is. Im tired of using small incomplete RBs like Moss, Singletary, Hines and Cook
 

Bijan is also no slouch in the passing game either. He’s solid

[Alphadawg7]

58 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

OK here we are time for the one position group that so many love, I don’t value nearly as much as some, so I want to warn everyone, my writeup will likely be a bit biased here against the group as a whole, Now that that disclaimer is done time to move on to the RBs. 

 

The standard disclaimer:  I use SPOTRAC (primarily) sometimes will use OverTheCap as well for the salary and contract information.  I will also use profootball reference (primary) for stats.  Also this isn’t meant to be a complete wrap-up of the past season but more so a look at in the future, obviously I will look back at times to talk about how I see the future.

 

So here we go …

 

Financials:

Contracted players: 50 (SPOTRAC shows 52 but that includes Phillips Void and Saffold Void) with a cap hit of $241.768M

Cap Space (top 51):  -20,517,462M (Cap Announced causing this adjustment)

 

RB/FB – 3 players on contact 3.59% of CAP, 19th highest in the NFL.

 

RFA

None

 

UFA

Devin Singletary – 26 years old, Cap hit in 2022 – 975K, projected market value 5.5M AAV  – Gonna start of here by saying this is interesting on his projected market value at 5.5M, that number almost could be completely offset by the release of Nyheim Hines, if there is another Return man identified on the roster, because Hines really offered nothing to the offense since the trade and I would rather have Offensive production over ST players (this is below with Jones as well).  Now let’s investigate the numbers for Devin.  He was roughly right on his running attempt number of 177 (that is roughly where he has been all 4 years in buffalo).  Right at his yards as well with 819 (had 870 last year).  5 TDs, 43 runs resulting in 1st.  4.6 yards per carry.  (This is right where he was last year too).  Receiving side 52 targets (highest in career, two years at 50), 38 catches 280 yards, 7.4 yards per catch, 1 TD Catch rate at 7.1%.  Some fancy numbers 3.1 yards before contact (this one caught be by surprise a bit and was the highest in his career).  Not nearly as many broken tackles (9) as in the past and went 19.7 attempts per broken tackle (worst in his career).  Had 6 drops highest in his career but was a 91.8 QB rating when targeted.  All these numbers scream productive back here. I would not be opposed to bringing him back, however I want to make sure other priorities are allocated against first.  However, a 5.5M AAV contract could likely be structured in a way to account for 1.5M against the 2023 cap (Jones Cap hit), and then Hines falls off in 2024 before this contract gets up in the 5-6M Cap hit range.  

 

Taiwan Jones – 35 Years old, Cap hit in 2022 – 1.272M, Time to move on from a ST only player. 

 

On Contract

 

James Cook age 24, 0.58% of cap, 1.325M cap hit (No Savings) –  He is exactly why I am moving on from Singletary IMO.  Anyway here are his numbers.  89 attempts 507 yards, 2 TDs, 25 runs resulting in a 1st down and a 5.7 yards per carry.  Had 21 receptions on 32 targets for 180 yards and a 8.6 yards per reception and a TD with 65.6% catch rate.  Some fancy numbers 3.7 yards before contact, 3 broken tackles and 29.7 attempts between broken tackles (numbers suggest not as hard to bring down as Motor).  Had 3 drops and a 77.6 QB rating when targeted.  In my honest opinion the numbers back up what my eyes were telling me Cook is RB1 going forward. 

 

Nyheim Hines age 26, 2.11% of cap, 4.79M cap hit (4.78M in savings) – This to me looks like the deal I would have wanted for Singletary if resigned, So IMO he is the Singletary extension.  I can handle that for a couple reasons.  1.  He is on Contract for 2023 and 2024 with no guaranteed money so no problem moving on from him at any point.  4.7M cap this year 5.4M cap next year.  Brings the return capability (something that Motor doesn’t), then if you look at him in the roll Cook played this year with about 110 touches he did really well with the Cols, with a 4.9 ypc and 7.7 yards per catch.  I think that tells me we have our two RBs here, fill RB3 and RB4 late in the draft, UDFA or post draft value RB signing.   

 

Reggie Gilliam, age 26, 0.90% against cap, 2.023M cap hit (1.361 savings) – here is hard, to me I say move one save the 1.36M, but I know there is value here outside the just about zero production in the stats.  But only logged about 17% of Offensive Snaps and 78% snaps on ST.  Because of the Big ST contributions from him I probably would keep him on the roster (taking essentially the Taiwan Jones cap hit.  But I could see this as cut prospect if can find a Rookie to do what he does.  End of the day if Gilliam is moved off the Bills Roster it will be after camp IMO. 

 

Notable UFAs – Ok I will list some here, I personally would not sign anyone, but I will make a list of who I think can fit the offense anyway.   

 

RB

Saquon Barkley, 26 – This is probably the top RB on the market.  Going to likely cost around 13-15M AAV.  I could get talked into this because he is good in the passing game as well.  So I do think this would be like a McCaffery type RB (that the Bills have flirted with).    

 

Kareem Hunt 27 years old.  This is a back that would slide right into the role that is offered, he has played it most of his career.  Probably in the 5-9M AAV range.

 

Josh Jacobs, 25 years old – Here is another back that is both good in the running game and pretty darn good in the passing game as well, I could see him getting mor than Barkley to be honest.  But Probably in the 11-16M AAV range.

 

Samaje Perine – 27 years old – This would be the ONE back I would sign in UFA early.  Likely around a 2-4M AAV contract, 5-11 240 (BIG POWERFUL BACK) this SHOULD allow us to fix the short yardage without putting more hits on Josh. 

 

RB

1st round

Jahmyr Gibbs, 5-11 200, Bama – I have him ranked as the best RB in the class. 

Bijan Robinson, 6’0, 220, Texas

 

2nd Round

Devon Achane, 5’9” 185, Texas A&M

Zach Charbonnet, 6’1” 220, UCLA

Zach Evans, 6’0” 215, Ole Miss

DeWayne McBride, 5’11’”, 215 UAB

 

What I would do:

 

     I would Let all Motor and Jones walk.  Motor has been supplanted by Cook and Jones is nothing that I cannot find with a late round or UDFA Rookie.

 

I then go into UFA and Sign Perine from Bengals, get that short yardage back the team has used Allen for, now I no longer need to keep putting that punishment on him as I have a back that can routinely pick up those 3 to 4 tough yards in short yardage.  That is about a 1.5M hit in 2023.

 

RBs before draft.

 

RB1 – Cook

RB2 – Perine

RB3/Returner - Hines

 

Draft Unless you get Gibbs or Robinson to fall to you in the draft wait until 6th or later and address it.  Me personally I get a couple UDFAs (we have had good luck in UDFA RBs) and call it a day in this position group.

 

Past Writeups Links:

Cap Tickets (30 Jan)

State of the Franchise (23 Jan)

Offensive Line (23 Jan)

WRs/TEs (26 Jan)

 

Final one on Offense will be QB - hint, dont expect anything earth shattering there, then on to defense.  Any specific group anyone want me to stat with on Defense?

 

Hard pass on Cook being the top RB.  He goes down when the wind blows.  He is a Kamara style RB, not a heavy workload runner.  

 

I would sign D'Onta Foreman (or draft someone) to be the physical runner and let him and Cook split duties where Cook functions more as a Kamara style player.  

[MAJBobby]

1 hour ago, DJB said:

We have a passing back in Cook.

We need a true 3 down RB which Bijan is. Im tired of using small incomplete RBs like Moss, Singletary, Hines and Cook
 

Bijan is also no slouch in the passing game either. He’s solid

Just justifying my grades. Both are three down backs. One is better in the passing game and why he is graded higher. FYI one is graded at 16th best player the other is 18th best player. 

1 hour ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Hard pass on Cook being the top RB.  He goes down when the wind blows.  He is a Kamara style RB, not a heavy workload runner.  

 

I would sign D'Onta Foreman (or draft someone) to be the physical runner and let him and Cook split duties where Cook functions more as a Kamara style player.  

I see that too. But rookie year I would like to see him with the 188 touch workload before I decide there. And bringing in like a Perine limits the risk there if Cook does continue to go down easy. 
 

but I do share that concern. Doesn’t justify me enough to bring back Motor or sign over him for example. 

Edited January 30, 2023 by MAJBobby

[LABILLBACKER]

1 hour ago, MAJBobby said:

Gibbs is better out of the backfield in my eyes, that is why I have him over Robinson in my grading.

I could see them trying to Flip Mixon and Perine.  However they also still Need to sign Bates, Bell (both starting Safeties), Apple, Hurst, Flowers, and Pratt.  We all know Paul Brown will only spend cash to the cap here.  I really could see them letting Perine walk.  But if not that is the type of back I want in UFA.   

If Perine is available for 2-3M, I'd absolutely jump on that signing. Slide Hines to primarily return guy and 3rd string insurance @rb.  Still like to stash a couple PS Rbs that don't get poached.

[JohnNord]

Singletary is 100% gone.  I don’t think the Bills should invest anything significant into the RB position 

[MAJBobby]

Just now, LABILLBACKER said:

If Perine is available for 2-3M, I'd absolutely jump on that signing. Slide Hines to primarily return guy and 3rd string insurance @rb.  Still like to stash a couple PS Rbs that don't get poached.

Agree I think that is really what they wanted with The kid that went to Carolina. I am with you I think for the most part. I don’t want to use top picks on RB and I don’t think the Bills should sign over Cook with a Jacobs or Barkley

[The Jokeman]

I like what Devin's done here but his lack of breakaway speeds is maddening. I say let him and Jones walk.ive said it numerous times before but we need a bigger back and think Chris Rodriguez Jr. Is a guy you can get in the 4th/5th round area.

[DJB]

43 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

Just justifying my grades. Both are three down backs. One is better in the passing game and why he is graded higher. FYI one is graded at 16th best player the other is 18th best player. 

I see that too. But rookie year I would like to see him with the 188 touch workload before I decide there. And bringing in like a Perine limits the risk there if Cook does continue to go down easy. 
 

but I do share that concern. Doesn’t justify me enough to bring back Motor or sign over him for example. 

Fair enough but I just don’t value small RBs that might be sub 200 pounds over a complete 3 down RB that has been called the best RB prospect since S Barkley. 
 

Gibbs is a good prospect but Bijan is upper echelon and would have been ranked ahead of Breece last year

[strive_for_five_guy]

2 hours ago, MAJBobby said:

OK here we are time for the one position group that so many love, I don’t value nearly as much as some, so I want to warn everyone, my writeup will likely be a bit biased here against the group as a whole, Now that that disclaimer is done time to move on to the RBs. 

 

The standard disclaimer:  I use SPOTRAC (primarily) sometimes will use OverTheCap as well for the salary and contract information.  I will also use profootball reference (primary) for stats.  Also this isn’t meant to be a complete wrap-up of the past season but more so a look at in the future, obviously I will look back at times to talk about how I see the future.

 

So here we go …

 

Financials:

Contracted players: 50 (SPOTRAC shows 52 but that includes Phillips Void and Saffold Void) with a cap hit of $241.768M

Cap Space (top 51):  -20,517,462M (Cap Announced causing this adjustment)

 

RB/FB – 3 players on contact 3.59% of CAP, 19th highest in the NFL.

 

RFA

None

 

UFA

Devin Singletary – 26 years old, Cap hit in 2022 – 975K, projected market value 5.5M AAV  – Gonna start of here by saying this is interesting on his projected market value at 5.5M, that number almost could be completely offset by the release of Nyheim Hines, if there is another Return man identified on the roster, because Hines really offered nothing to the offense since the trade and I would rather have Offensive production over ST players (this is below with Jones as well).  Now let’s investigate the numbers for Devin.  He was roughly right on his running attempt number of 177 (that is roughly where he has been all 4 years in buffalo).  Right at his yards as well with 819 (had 870 last year).  5 TDs, 43 runs resulting in 1st.  4.6 yards per carry.  (This is right where he was last year too).  Receiving side 52 targets (highest in career, two years at 50), 38 catches 280 yards, 7.4 yards per catch, 1 TD Catch rate at 7.1%.  Some fancy numbers 3.1 yards before contact (this one caught be by surprise a bit and was the highest in his career).  Not nearly as many broken tackles (9) as in the past and went 19.7 attempts per broken tackle (worst in his career).  Had 6 drops highest in his career but was a 91.8 QB rating when targeted.  All these numbers scream productive back here. I would not be opposed to bringing him back, however I want to make sure other priorities are allocated against first.  However, a 5.5M AAV contract could likely be structured in a way to account for 1.5M against the 2023 cap (Jones Cap hit), and then Hines falls off in 2024 before this contract gets up in the 5-6M Cap hit range.  

 

Taiwan Jones – 35 Years old, Cap hit in 2022 – 1.272M, Time to move on from a ST only player. 

 

On Contract

 

James Cook age 24, 0.58% of cap, 1.325M cap hit (No Savings) –  He is exactly why I am moving on from Singletary IMO.  Anyway here are his numbers.  89 attempts 507 yards, 2 TDs, 25 runs resulting in a 1st down and a 5.7 yards per carry.  Had 21 receptions on 32 targets for 180 yards and a 8.6 yards per reception and a TD with 65.6% catch rate.  Some fancy numbers 3.7 yards before contact, 3 broken tackles and 29.7 attempts between broken tackles (numbers suggest not as hard to bring down as Motor).  Had 3 drops and a 77.6 QB rating when targeted.  In my honest opinion the numbers back up what my eyes were telling me Cook is RB1 going forward. 

 

Nyheim Hines age 26, 2.11% of cap, 4.79M cap hit (4.78M in savings) – This to me looks like the deal I would have wanted for Singletary if resigned, So IMO he is the Singletary extension.  I can handle that for a couple reasons.  1.  He is on Contract for 2023 and 2024 with no guaranteed money so no problem moving on from him at any point.  4.7M cap this year 5.4M cap next year.  Brings the return capability (something that Motor doesn’t), then if you look at him in the roll Cook played this year with about 110 touches he did really well with the Cols, with a 4.9 ypc and 7.7 yards per catch.  I think that tells me we have our two RBs here, fill RB3 and RB4 late in the draft, UDFA or post draft value RB signing.   

 

Reggie Gilliam, age 26, 0.90% against cap, 2.023M cap hit (1.361 savings) – here is hard, to me I say move one save the 1.36M, but I know there is value here outside the just about zero production in the stats.  But only logged about 17% of Offensive Snaps and 78% snaps on ST.  Because of the Big ST contributions from him I probably would keep him on the roster (taking essentially the Taiwan Jones cap hit.  But I could see this as cut prospect if can find a Rookie to do what he does.  End of the day if Gilliam is moved off the Bills Roster it will be after camp IMO. 

 

Notable UFAs – Ok I will list some here, I personally would not sign anyone, but I will make a list of who I think can fit the offense anyway.   

 

RB

Saquon Barkley, 26 – This is probably the top RB on the market.  Going to likely cost around 13-15M AAV.  I could get talked into this because he is good in the passing game as well.  So I do think this would be like a McCaffery type RB (that the Bills have flirted with).    

 

Kareem Hunt 27 years old.  This is a back that would slide right into the role that is offered, he has played it most of his career.  Probably in the 5-9M AAV range.

 

Josh Jacobs, 25 years old – Here is another back that is both good in the running game and pretty darn good in the passing game as well, I could see him getting mor than Barkley to be honest.  But Probably in the 11-16M AAV range.

 

Samaje Perine – 27 years old – This would be the ONE back I would sign in UFA early.  Likely around a 2-4M AAV contract, 5-11 240 (BIG POWERFUL BACK) this SHOULD allow us to fix the short yardage without putting more hits on Josh. 

 

RB

1st round

Jahmyr Gibbs, 5-11 200, Bama – I have him ranked as the best RB in the class. 

Bijan Robinson, 6’0, 220, Texas

 

2nd Round

Devon Achane, 5’9” 185, Texas A&M

Zach Charbonnet, 6’1” 220, UCLA

Zach Evans, 6’0” 215, Ole Miss

DeWayne McBride, 5’11’”, 215 UAB

 

What I would do:

 

     I would Let all Motor and Jones walk.  Motor has been supplanted by Cook and Jones is nothing that I cannot find with a late round or UDFA Rookie.

 

I then go into UFA and Sign Perine from Bengals, get that short yardage back the team has used Allen for, now I no longer need to keep putting that punishment on him as I have a back that can routinely pick up those 3 to 4 tough yards in short yardage.  That is about a 1.5M hit in 2023.

 

RBs before draft.

 

RB1 – Cook

RB2 – Perine

RB3/Returner - Hines

 

Draft Unless you get Gibbs or Robinson to fall to you in the draft wait until 6th or later and address it.  Me personally I get a couple UDFAs (we have had good luck in UDFA RBs) and call it a day in this position group.

 

Past Writeups Links:

Cap Tickets (30 Jan)

State of the Franchise (23 Jan)

Offensive Line (23 Jan)

WRs/TEs (26 Jan)

 

Final one on Offense will be QB - hint, dont expect anything earth shattering there, then on to defense.  Any specific group anyone want me to stat with on Defense?

Linebacker group please?  I’m sure your thoughts Edmunds alone will create plenty of discussion 😎